So how is everyone? I’m great. I’ve had a ridiculous crazy end of summer, early fall, but it’s all good. I thought it’d be a good time to catch up with everyone and share all my news.

So first up, my daughter got married a few weekends ago at our cottage. And for those of you that follow me, you may remember my son, also got married at the cottage, the same weekend, last year. Crazy two home grown weddings in one year…and yes, I’m still recovering. So pretty much for the months of August and September, we were busy getting the place wedding ready, which entailed having the exterior window frames painted, the beach roto-tillered within an inch of it’s life, roof repairs and of course, the never ending job of keeping critters from ripping up our lawn, for the oh so tasty grubs (we kind of failed on this point, but I’ll get to that later). We also were having a new furnace and air exchanger (which also acts as an air conditioner) installed the week before the wedding. So needless to say, I was a little stressed out about it all, until it was finally installed and working the Tuesday before the wedding….phew!

My daughter and son-in-law had decided on late fall, so that it would be nice and cool for them….well, not exactly how it turned out. We had our heat wave in mid to late September this year, so our cool fall wedding turned into a blazing hot 40 celsius summer wedding. So obviously, we cancelled the propane tent heaters we had ordered. But at least it wasn’t raining and the a/c was working!!!

Here’s a few candid shots from the day.

It was a spectacularly great day and since one of my son-in-law’s groomsmen, is a master of fireworks, we had a spectacular show once it got dark. You can check my Instagram video to see them. And you can’t even see the totally ripped up grass, courtesy of the family of raccoons that were being well fed with grubs….sigh…. Oh well, nothing is perfect.

So obviously the wedding kept me busy and just a few days before the wedding, the cottage was photographed for a design magazine. This was sooooooo exciting for me, of course, but it’s an incredible amount of work to try and get everything ready and picture perfect. So all the things I had put off and hadn’t finished, now needed to be done yesterday. So there was alot of measuring, sourcing, purchasing, picking up, transporting of items, and of course, cleaning, lots and lots of cleaning. Here’s a few shots I took of the cottage prior to the photographer arriving.

I’ll be sure and let you know when the issue comes out, but don’t hold your breath, it’s going to be awhile, as that is just the way it is, in the design magazine industry.

In between these two things, I’ve been working on completing a cottage reno and starting two bathroom renos. One bath is in full mode now, hopefully done in a week or two, and the other should start in the next few weeks. Here’s a little sneak peek of where the first one is heading, design-wise.

Just realized the adhesive is showing on the top tile…opps. And the little squares are paint options for the clients to view. Once I have proper photos, I’ll let you know which paint colour was chosen.

And just yesterday, I was absolutely stunned to find out that I was nominated as one of the top 100 influencers in Interior Design for 2018. So if you have a minute and feel that I’ve somehow influenced your design style, I’d love your vote. Just click here or on the picture below and you’ll go directly to my name on the list. Voting is open until Oct 10 and you can vote daily. And just for that, I’m sending you a big hug and thank you!

So that’s all my news, sorry for such a long post, but I had a lot to cover. Have a fabulous weekend and to all my fellow Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your turkey day!

On a side note, that cute little beach print is from Minted, and I just framed it with an Ikea Ribba frame in high gloss grey, that I already had. The floor lamp is also from Ikea, many, many, years.

The adorable terrarium is from my son’s wedding, last Fall. It’s such a great keepsake and it’s sitting on a sturdy metal side table that was from Pier 1.

I sewed up the matching throw cushions with the left overs from the piping material. They were cut on the diagonal to make the piping so I decided to make that a feature on the pillow, hence the diagonal line. I then found it a little boring, so I added in the mother of pearl buttons to finish them off.

Sorry for the long absence, like everyone else, life gets so busy. We were lucky to get away again this winter, this time for a Caribbean cruise and then just like that we were right back in it. Add to that my hubby’s minor knee surgery and you can imagine why I haven’t been blogging.

I made an impulse fabric buy recently, as Tonic Living had a remnant sale and I am a SUCKER for pretty fabric. They had a remnant of the fabric that I used to make throw cushions on my family room sofa, so I decided I should pick it up….I could make some more cushions or perhaps it would find a home somewhere else.

Isn’t it a pretty fabric?

Clarice Dove

Even a few years on I still love my throw pillows.

Once I received the remnant, all 1.5 yards of it, I had the brain storm that I could use it to recover my wicker chair seats in the sun room, as it is right off the family room. I have been wanting to recover those seats as the covers that came with the chairs were never “me”. Sorry for the crappy before pic, as usual I forgot to take a before photo before I trotted them off to Wayne to be recovered. I guess I was a little anxious. Anyways, there really are two of them in here….trust me, the cats each have one 🙂

I’m just not really a red person and I definitely wasn’t keen on that generic upholstery. Anyways, I went off to my drapery/cushion maker, Wayne, and he informed me, as I had suspected, that I didn’t have quite enough fabric for the two chairs. So I decided to do a contrasting piping that would free up enough fabric to squeak out two cushions.

I decided to pull out the turquoise for the piping and found some fabric that had the texture and colour that I needed.

The cushions are now completed and look fabulous, Wayne did a great job as usual. I am going to make up two small throw cushions to add to the back of the chairs and once they are done I’ll be showcasing the after pictures here. Here’s just a little teaser.

Have a wonderful weekend, and please….tell Mother Nature that we have had enough snow! Bring on spring!

Mantels are one of the best places to decorate for the holidays and if you are like me, you love looking at different ones and different styles to get some ideas for your own.

I’m lucky enough to get to do two totally different ones every year, just for me. Here’s my cottage mantel that I keep pretty minimal and rustic, totally appropriate for the country setting that it is in.

Photo credit: Justin Frost

I used lots of fresh local greenery, some pinecones in a vintage apothecary jar, some antique encyclopedias (which I have sprinkled around the entire place), some sparkly grapevine balls, a birdcage and of course some candleholders. Honestly, this mantel took me all of half an hour to do. Quick, simple and rustic, just the way I like my country Christmas mantels.

Now for my city house, I went with a more sophisticated style.

Some similar elements here, fresh greenery and some dried magnolia leaves (they do last a few years, if you are careful when you store them), some fairy lights and of course candlesticks and candles. I may just tuck in some white and clear christmas balls amongst the leaves, at some point. Pretty, simple and classic, perfect for my home in the city.

As promised, here’s my urn and wreath at my city house. As you can see I went with turquoise accents on my Christmas urn, this year. I love the way the turquoise stands out against the evergreens.

And a close up.

It was super quick this year, I just picked up some cedar and boxwood branches from Loblaws and I used some leftover pine branches that I had brought home from the country and layered them together. I added in the huge pinecones, which I always seem to use, along with some birch branches.

I’ve used the turquoise bow and butterfly before and I just pulled them out of my supplies and that was it. Quick, simple and inexpensive

I also picked up a ready made boxwood wreath and just added a few pinecones and another turquoise butterfly for a super simple DIY.

I love the way the turquoise and green pops against the dark brown door. Hopefully the boxwood wreath will hold up all the winter.

If you haven’t seen my first Christmas urn I did last week for my cottage, you can see it here.

I also decided to go back and share some of my previous exterior urns and decor from years past. I think you’ll see that I stick with a pretty similar style, year and year. And they may give you some inspiration to get yours done, if you haven’t already.